Burn The Night Away.
It's just a thought that came into my head. I had a really rough day, the worst I've ever had, and it took everything inside of me to try and focus it on something else. So I focused on this one song, and, it turned into this. I know it's obviously farfetched and would never happen and it's AU. But that's fan fiction. It's also a one-shot. Please Review, it'd mean a lot.
We can't stop the world, but there's so much more that we could do.
You can't stop this girl from falling more in love with you.
You said nobody has to know, give us time to grow, and take it slow.
But I'd stop the world and finally let us be alone.
Let us be alone.
It was the summer of Ron's fifth year at Hogwarts; the beginning of his sixth year. A lot had happened in the past school year. A lot was actually an understatement to be exact. The ministry, almost everyone in school, actually, almost everyone in the Wizarding world believed that Harry was a liar about Cedric Diggory being murdered by Voldemort. Cornelius Fudge had posted a ton of articles in the Daily Prophet about how Harry was 'plotting' and Dumbledore was getting too old.
Ron agreed, Dumbledore was getting old. Everyone was. But he wasn't getting too old. If that made sense.
The lying had stirred everything up even more. After the Triwizard Tournament, the Ministry of Magic decided to step into Hogwarts to keep an eye on things. Or, completely take over.
They sent a wicked lady, Dolores Umbridge. She wouldn't teach them any spells. Scratch that, she wouldn't let them do anything. And she had it out for Harry, believing that he was most definitely lying about Voldemort.
The D.A was started. Dumbledore's Army. Dumbledore hadn't asked Harry, Ron and Hermione to start it. He actually was avoiding Harry. But they did anyways, and they got caught. Cho Chang had fessed up.
Dumbledore told Cornelius that it was his army, and he asked them to join together. They tried to capture Dumbledore and bring him to Azkaban but he escaped with Faux.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville went to save Sirius from one of Harry's joined visions with Voldemort, and were trapped with the prophecies. Death eaters surrounded them.
They all managed to get out safe. Except Sirius was killed, by Bellatrix Lestrange.
Harry fought against Voldemort, after the help of Occlumency from Severus.
Dumbledore appeared and pushed Harry out of the way, fighting with Voldemort.
Eventually, the Ministry appeared and caught a glimpse of Voldemort and then all was believed.
At least, that's what it was in a nutcase.
But now Ron was left at home with his two brothers, who had just dropped out of school, day of exams. So they weren't exactly on the best terms with their mother. And with Ginny, and his father came everyone in a while but he was mostly at work. Now that Harry and Dumbledore had proven their facts, the Ministry needed more help than ever.
Ron tended to get boring, why wouldn't he? He didn't feel like chatting with Ginny, or beating her in Wizards chess again. And he didn't feel like getting annoyed by the twins. So he found himself either degnoming, or just walking around. He wished he could write Harry; make sure he was okay. But he wasn't allowed. It'd give out too much information. And he wanted to write to Hermione as well… a lot actually. But he couldn't do that either. He figured the Death Eaters were most definitely watching the burrow. It frightened him, just thinking of it. But he'd have to get through the summer by himself. Which he wasn't used to since he attended Hogwarts.
On a Saturday afternoon, Ron found himself rummaging around in the shed. It held all of the muggle items his father had gotten his hands on. It made him slightly uncomfortable. Not because of all the muggle things. But he had a weird sense of sadness. He actually missed his dad being around. But what could he say? Dad do you think you could just stay home for a day while Voldemort is getting ready to attack the whole entire world? That was selfish and never going to happen. So instead he found time too look at a bunch of things in the shed. Trying to figure out what his dad saw in the items that were so incredibly fascinating.
He found the rubber duck that his father was so interested in during his second year at Hogwarts. He remembered Harry came over to stay, and his dad asked him what the purpose was of a rubber duck.
He never go this answer. Errol came. He wondered if his dad still thought about that. He'd make sure to get the answer from Harry when things weren't on such high alert. It wouldn't hurt to ask.
But then his eyes traveled to something in the corner. He'd noticed what it was. It was a guitar. They had them in the Wizarding world. But they were a lot different. The muggle guitar had knobs at the top which he guessed it was to tighten the strings. Well he didn't guess… he twisted one and saw that was exactly what happened.
He wasn't going to lie. He always wanted to learn how to play a guitar. Of course, wizarding guitars must be easier than a muggle guitar. Seeing as how he could just use magic to play. But he didn't want to use magic. He actually wanted to learn something the muggle way.
He placed the guitar near the door and headed back into the house where he knew he'd be treated with lunch. The Weasley's always had breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time. And they always had it together at the table. It's how they were brought up. And that's how Ron was. He knew that if they missed dinner by an hour, that something was wrong.
His mom had fixed them all up sandwiches, Ron eating his quickly so he could get to where he had to go. Although, his 'quick' eating was rather average for him. As soon as he mumbled a thanks and placed his dish into the sink where it started washing itself, he heard his mother quickly 'tsk'.
"Now Ronald, where do you think you're going?" She asked, her voice stern and steady, yet there was a slight hint of concern. She didn't like any of her children going off without telling her. Especially at times like this.
"I just wanna go into town and look at a few things." Of course the town he was talking about was a muggle town. It was a little village with quite a few shops. And he'd noticed a music shop before but he'd never gone in. Plus he was with Fred and George and he didn't want them breathing down his back.
"Okay.." She mumbled, looking him in the eyes and making sure nothing was bothering him. She could sense something, but she assumed he just missed his friends. She rather missed his friends too. Harry and Hermione were like family, it was odd during the summer, to be without them. "Well, you'll need muggle money, you know."
Ron totally forgot about that. Muggle money. He had some money that he'd managed to save from the trips he was supposed to go to at Hogwarts, to Hogsmeade. But those were canceled because of Umbridge so Ron had extra money. He looked down at his feet as he tried to think of what to do, before his mother came up with any idea.
"Your father keeps muggle money just incase. You give me what you have and I'll exchange it for some muggle money. Is that okay dear? I'd give you more but I'm afraid we don't have much…" She always felt bad that they weren't a wealthy family. She found giving her family love, and food in their stomach, was more than money could ever do.
"That's fine, mum." He then stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small bag, he pulled out three galleons from the bag, which he had obtained by helping the twins with some things. How they had them, he had no idea. And eighteen sickles, handing them over to his mom who counted slowly.
"It comes out to about twenty pounds. Is that okay dear?" She knew there were some cents involved but she assumed it would be okay to use the rounding method. Plus they didn't have much change.
"That's fine." He smiled, glad his mother worked something out with him. He watched as she exited the room to grab the twenty pounds that he now had. And he couldn't help but feel excited. It was probably the most money he'd have for a long time. And he hoped he could use it for what he wanted. He waited patiently as his mother reentered the room a few minutes later. She passed him the twenty pounds as she returned the smile that was placed on her face.
"You be careful dear. Send a patronus if anything happens, okay?" She'd admit that she was nervous letting her youngest son travel to the muggle village by himself. But he was sixteen, and she wasn't going to just say no. She was sure he could take care of himself. Especially after everything that'd happen the last five years. He'd shown that he could.
"I will, mum." And with that he walked out the door, making his way back over to the shed. He grabbed the guitar that was against the wall inside the shed and placed the strap around him, pulling on the strap until the strap laid across his shoulder and chest, his guitar on his back. If he didn't already look like a muggle, he sure did now. Like those muggles that played their music on the streets for money.
As he walked, he had time to think.
Harry.
He could only imagine how bad of a friend he looked right now. He wasn't writing, and he wasn't telling him anything that was happening. Most of all, he wasn't asking Harry if he was okay. But he knew if he asked him that, he'd probably just snap. Ron never liked when people asked if he was okay. Because if he wasn't, then it was pretty fucking obvious. But if he was fine, he just got annoyed. And Harry was the type to claim that he was okay.
They'd been through five years together, and each one was dramatic. A lot going on. But never had something this bad happen. Sure, his parents had died. But that was before Ron knew him, and before Harry could even remember. This one; they all witnessed. Bellatrix pointed the wand at Sirius and yelled 'Avada Kedvara.' He was maybe 5 feet, at the most, from Harry when he was killed. And Sirius was his godfather. He had finally gotten that parent like being in his life, other than Ron's parents; and it was taken away with a flick of the wand.
It was unfair how things like that happened to people. How everything went completely wrong. It really didn't lead him to believe that miracles did happen.
And then that's' when he thought of Hermione.
A lot had happened between them as well. They had always fought, constantly. Row after row after row. Repeatedly.
First year, he had almost had her killed by a troll.
She's a nightmare, honestly.
Those words still echoed in his head. Especially when they were fighting. It's constantly chime in his head and he'd instantly feel bad. It wasn't like he liked fighting with her.
Well, that was the thing. He actually did enjoy it. He liked that she fought back. If she didn't, it'd just be boring. But he'd never tell her that. Because he liked getting a rise out of her.
Second year, they didn't fight as much. They had a few small rows about essays but that was a natural thing.
And she was petrified. Which frightened Ron to death. He couldn't picture Hermione being petrified forever. And thankfully she wasn't. Though in some fights he wished that she was.
Third year, they got in a huge row about Crookshanks eating Scabbers. It turned out that Crookshanks was actually helping Sirius try and capture Scabbers… because Crookshanks knew who Scabbers was. It was rather embarrassing at the end; to know that he was a complete and utter fool towards her. But it was shortly resolved.
Fourth year was the worst. Because of stupid Viktor Krum.
Though Ron didn't want to admit it, it was his fault. If he had asked Hermione to the Yule Ball, properly, none of this would ever have happened. He couldn't even think of what they would be right now if he had asked her. But he'd never know. She ended up going with Viktor Krum which turned him into a raging jealous git. And as if it wasn't self explanatory, he ruined her ball.
And fifth year they actually got along. There weren't any large fights. He actually couldn't think of any tragic ones. A couple rows where he mentioned the name 'Vicky' and she got a tad bit annoyed. But other than that it was clear.
And now he hadn't even talked to her for the past three weeks. It was a bit harsh. But he'd have to get used to it.
He honestly didn't know what was to come for the three of them. But just thinking about them made him miss him. And it also made him realize how much of him, was a part of them. The reason he was, who he was, was because of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Without him, he'd just be an annoying twit Gryffindor boy. With no friends, and no intelligence.
But he shook his head as he entered the village, looking around. There were a few people sitting on benches, and others just wandering the street. They didn't look over to see Ron, which was good. Because he never liked being stared at while he was in the muggle village. It was just odd.
He made his way past a few of the stores, dragging himself past the soda shop. It had different foods, and most of all, a nice little bakery. But he couldn't go in. He'd waste his money on food and that wasn't needed. But if he had extra.. Then he would.
He then saw the shop he wanted to go in. It was the music shop. He could tell by the different instruments along the walls. He'd been in it once before with Ginny, but for a brief second. As he walked in, he heard the bell at the top of the door chime.
"Hello there," The guy behind the counter, in his mid thirties, greeted. Ron looked up at him in alarm before realizing it was just the owner of the store. He had been extra cautious later. You could never be too sure. "Are you looking for anything particular?"
Ron looked around the store, different kind of instruments lined up. Different prices; yet all outrageous. He took a few strides over to the counter where the guy was, his nametag reading Brad as he nodded his head.
"I need a little bit of help. I wanted a book.. That would help me learn this." And then he took the strap off from around him and placed the guitar on the counter. "And possibly some help with tuning." He knew it'd be easier to tune with magic. But he wasn't for it.
"Oh well sure! Just a second." He then turned around and searched under the counter for a few second while Ron tapped his fingers along the counter, surprised he was going through with this. He wasn't one to actually want to do something. But he was going to. As Brad popped back up he handed him a thick book. "It has all the main things, the different chords and tips and such. It's a beginners book. But I've been told once you get the learn of playing, you just make up your own melodies and such."
Ron didn't know what he wanted to do just yet, all he knew was playing the guitar would pass the time. And it'd give him something to do instead of moping around the house.
"Alright." Ron nodded as he watched Brad grab his guitar and strum it a few times as he twisted the knobs at the top, tuning it. It'd didn't take him long until he passed it over to Ron.
"You tune it for different songs, you know. You'll learn that. But I put it on some basic tuning." He smiled, the guy was quite polite. And he didn't seem to think Ron was weird, which he was thankful for.
"Wicked. Uh, how much will that be?" Ron asked, his head tilted as he tried to squint at the book, seeing if it had a price tag.
"Fifteen pounds."
"What about the tuning, how much is that?"
"Don't worry about it." Brad laughed, shaking his head. "I wouldn't charge you for that." Ron couldn't help the excitement. Now he could stop at Soda shop! He passed him his twenty pounds and waited before Brad passed back five pounds.
"Thanks a lot." Ron spoke as he placed his guitar the same way he had it before and grabbed the book.
"Don't worry about it. Hope to see you around sometime, maybe you can show me what you've learned!" He called after him, Ron walking out the door. Well, he couldn't promise he'd be back.
But he could almost promise that he wouldn't. The chances of him being any good at guitar were slim to none.
But the thoughts were out of his mind as he entered the soda shop.
It'd been exactly a year since that moment. And Ron had practiced everyday. He didn't miss a single day. Sometimes practices were shorter, much shorter, than others. But his fingers touched the strings no matter what.
A lot had happened the last past year.
Him and Hermione got into a huge unannounced row. It was unannounced because they never really talked about it. Ron was stupid, and he took something Ginny said to heart.
He made Keeper on the Quidditch team. And after winning the first game. (And doing an absolutely amazing job.) Lavender Brown threw herself at him, Ron obliged. And that's when it started.
Hermione and Ron wouldn't talk for months. It was awkward. Especially for Harry.
Every night before he practiced, he'd convince himself that dating Lavender was the right thing and that he liked her. She was pretty, and funny.. well sort of. But then he realized.. he never had to talk himself into liking Hermione. He must be doing something wrong. And then it clicked. He was only with Lavender to get Hermione jealous.
He knew he never liked Lavender but it didn't really hit him as to why he was still with her.
But did he end it? No.
She ended it. After he, Hermione, and Harry left the boys dormitory together and Lavender caught them. Of course Harry was underneath the Invisibility Cloak, so Lavender only saw him with Hermione. Looking at Lavenders side, he would understand what she could have thought about that. But nothing happened. And he didn't bother to stop her, Lavender broke up with Ron. And he was fine with that. And him and Hermione? They were best friends again. Nothing more, sadly, and nothing less.
It was the summer before their seventh year. And Ron and Hermione were at the burrow along with everyone else; minus Harry. They were supposed to do some unbelievable mission to try and get him before Voldemort knew he was home, where the barriers around his house would soon fall because he was coming of age.
But before the risked their lives once again, Ron called Hermione into his room.
Every night before bed, at either Hogwarts, Grimmuad 12, or his room. He would muffliato the room, or his four poster bed and practice. But he wasn't just practicing the guitar, but he had actually written a song. He was never good with words. And he knew that a lot of bands, in both the Wizarding World and the Muggle world; wrote their feelings through music. And he thought he'd try it. It took a long time. And he was scared off his mind. Completely bonkers. But he wrote it for Hermione, personally. And incase anything went wrong with their mission. He wanted her to hear it.
"Ron, what are we doing in here?" Hermione asked as they entered his room. She didn't see the point to be upstairs when everyone was downstairs discussing the plans on how they were going to save Harry. They had to do it soon, and much earlier than his birthday because they were trying to pull a fast one over Voldemort. And that was going to be difficult.
Ron slowly pulled out the guitar from under his bed, his hands shaky as he realized what he was going to do. If it went bad, he could always yell to Voldemort I'm the real Harry Potter! Come kill me! And everything would be solved. "I wanted to show you something before we leave." He muttered, then clearing his throat as he sat on his bed, watching Hermione sit beside him. He turned towards her and spoke louder, more clear; "If you don't mind. I mean if not that's fine." But Hermione was in a complete trance.
What was Ron doing with a guitar? What could he possibly want to show me? Not that she didn't want to know. Because she definitely did. And he looked adorable with a guitar in his lap. He didn't actually know how to play did he? Well, then again, magic could do a lot. But as she leaned forward, examining the guitar, she realized that was indeed a muggle guitar. She felt herself widen her eyes as she then looked at his bedside table to see a 'How To' book of playing guitar. She looked back at him with the same wide brown eyes and he couldn't help but laugh.
"You know how to play?!" She asked, a little excited. She'd never seen him do anything other than eat, sleep, and play quidditch. But he knew how to play the guitar? She always loved music. And now her best friend knew how to play it. Well, she actually hadn't heard yet. She didn't know how good Ron was. But she saw him as having complete potential to do anything.
"Yeah." He laughed again, "I picked it up after our fifth year. I was bored, what can I say?" He felt more relaxed, realizing this was Hermione. It wasn't some stranger, it was his best friend. How bad could it go? "But I kind of wrote something." His heart was beating fast, and he had absolutely no idea what to say next, but luckily she did.
"About what?" She asked excitedly. Ron. Guitar. Writing. Song?! She couldn't be more excited. She couldn't believe he wrote something that she didn't help him with, or that he had to turn in! It was completely surprising.
"Uh.. sort of..." That's when he lost his words. How could he tell her it was about her? He couldn't do it. Bloody coward he was. As always. He almost wanted to stupefy her and then throw her down stairs and deny anything she said. But instead he cleared his throat. "You." Hermione's look was still full of surprise, but with a smile, she nodded; as if to tell him to play. And he did.
Slowly he strummed the guitar, quickly turning the knobs to tune it before starting the song. He didn't want to sing, he wasn't a singer. But he figured the words would mean more than the voice. Or so he hoped. So he bit back his fears, and he played, his eyes fixated at the guitar, watching himself strum the strings instead of looking at her face. He didn't want to face embarrassment head on. Then he began to sing.
"It's three in the morning and I'm still not sleeping, cause I'm finally running your race.
The mountains you've been climbing feel like they have steepened, since I finally pick up the pace.
If the whole world told me I should disappear, could I fall right next to you?
Just let me burn the night away, oh baby let me burn the night away.
By thinking of the simple things you say to me that get me through the day.
You keep me wide awake. You keep me wide awake."
He quickly glanced over at her as he saw her face was emotionless, but her eyes were not. They were glossy, and they were still surprised. And it made him want to stop and apologize, seeing as how her ears may have been bleeding, but he continued instead.
"So don't look back, the hour glass is running empty.
You've got me buried with your every move.
Your fine lines have me at a loss of memory.
I'm right beside you in an empty room.
If the whole world told me I should disappear, could I fall right next to you?
Just let me burn the night away, oh baby let me burn the night away.
By thinking of the simple things you say to me that get me through the day.
And it's so hard to catch your feelings when you always run away.
You keep me wide awake. You keep me wide awake."
He wanted to look up, desperately. But he had a feeling if he looked at her again and saw more than he did before, more emotion, he was going to stop. And he wasn't finished. And he'd practiced. He at least wanted to finish.
"You're making it hard for me to just start over, like we're new.
Oh the whole world told me I should disappear, because I'm falling in love with you.
Just let me burn the night away, oh baby let me burn the night away.
By thinking of the simple things you say to me that get me through the day.
And it's so hard to catch your feelings when you always run away.
You keep me wide awake. You keep me wide awake."
He placed the guitar down beside him, keeping his eyes at his folded hands before he finally turned to look at her. Her eyes were fixated at the floor, her mouth open. He couldn't read her. He couldn't at all. And many times he could. But he was just lost.
"Hermione, I-" But he was stopped as her lips met his. Her arms snaked around his neck as his hands rested slowly on her hips. he honestly couldn't believe he was in fact kissing Hermione. After spilling his guts out through song. And she hadn't run away to clean her bleeding ears from his ghastly voice. She slowly placed her cold hands upon his cheeks before slowing the kiss down before pulling away, her eyes glossy, her cheeks damp from the tears that had fallen. She had been waiting for him to confess his feelings. She was determined that he felt the same way she did. All the signs pointed to yes. Plus, Harry and Ginny believed so too. But she never thought it'd be so sweet. She imagined them fighting, and him blurting something out. But no, this was much better. "I'm taking it you liked it?" He asked, a grin surfacing his face as his nervous feelings completely drained from his body.
"I completely loved it. I can't believe you can play that well, on a MUGGLE guitar!" She exclaimed, her smile widening as she rubbed his arm, showing how proud she really was. Guitars were tricky. As much as she would like to say she could play, she couldn't. Piano was more of her thing.
"You liked my singing?" He asked, holding back a laugh as she titled her head to the side slightly as if she was confused.
"I ah- I didn't really listen to your voice, just.. the words." But she couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face as they both stood up to go downstairs as they heard their names being called.
Just before they left the room, Ron looked back over at her. "Voice lessons?" He suggested, letting out a laugh.
"Voice lessons." She agreed with a nod, laughing along with him.
Before walking out the door and once again, retrieving their best friend Harry while facing death.
I told you it was completely farfetched and rubbish. You're glad it's a one-shot! I know it'd never happen! But please review! It'd make me oh so happy.